How to Set Up a Soccer or Football League (Recommended Settings)

By the TrackMyElo team · Published June 23, 2026 · Updated July 1, 2026 · 5 min read

Whether it’s 5-a-side soccer, flag football, or any team field game, the recommended setup centers on one idea: rate the teams that take the pitch, but follow the players across games. Here’s how to configure it.

Recommended settings

• Template: Team Sports
• Starting rating: 1000
• K-factor: 32
• Allow teams: On
• Team matches affect individual ELO: On
• Score margin affects ELO: Off (recommended)
• Reset policy: None, or seasonal if you run terms

Why team + individual ELO

Pickup soccer teams are rarely the same two weeks running, so rating only the teams would throw away your data every time sides reshuffle. With Allow teams and Team matches affect individual ELO both on, each match updates every player’s personal rating from the team result — giving you a meaningful individual ladder even with constant roster churn.

Why score margin usually stays off

This is the opposite recommendation from basketball, and the reason is goals are scarce. In a low-scoring game, a 2–1 result and a 2–0 result aren’t very different in what they say about dominance — the margin is noisy. Leaving score margin off avoids over-weighting a single lucky goal. If you play a high-scoring, run-up-the-score format, you can turn margin on with an appropriate target, but for typical soccer, off is cleaner.

Consider a seasonal reset

Field-sport leagues often run in terms. If yours does, the Seasonal option (auto-reset every 90 days) gives each season a fresh table while preserving the match history — a nice way to keep things competitive without letting one dominant early run snowball forever.

Quick setup

1. Create a league with the Team Sports template.
2. Confirm teams are on and team matches affect individual ELO.
3. Pick sides each match and record the winning team (and score if you enabled margin).